What is a wiki and how does it work? Technically, a wiki is a combination of a CGI script and a collection of plain text files that allows users to create Web pages “on the fly.” All it takes is a connection to the Internet and a Web browser. When you click a wiki page’s “Edit” link, the script sends the raw text file to your browser in an editable form, allowing you to modify the content of the page. Pressing the “Save” button sends the modified text back to the wiki server, which replaces the existing text file with your changed version for all to see. When you request a wiki page, the script gathers the corresponding text file, changes its marked-up text into HTML, turns user-selected words into hyperlinks, inserts this information into a page template, and sends the result to your browser. Ø Wikis Simplify Editing Your Website: Each page on a wiki has an Edit link. If you want to change something on the page, click the link, and the wiki will display a simple editing screen. When you finish making changes, submit them by clicking a button, and, Voila! Your changes show up on the Website. Ø Wikis Use Simple Markup: Even for geeky types like me, thinking about HTML and formatting gets in the way of good, clear writing. Wikis solve this problem by writing the HTML for you — you only need to learn a few simple markup rules. These rules are designed to make wiki markup easy to write and read by real people. Ø Wikis Record Document Histories: If you make a mistake, don’t worry. A good wiki will save plenty of old copies of your pages and will let you revert to an older version of a page. In fact, many Wikis will display a comparison, called a diffˆ, which shows you the exact changes you have made to your page over time. Ø Creating Links Is Simple With Wikis: Wikis store all your Website’s content in an internal hypertext database. The wiki knows about every page you have and about every link you make. If you use a wiki, you don’t have to worry about the location of files or the format of your tags. Simply name the page, and the wiki will automatically create a link for you. Ø Creating New Pages Is Simple With Wikis: Wikis let you link to pages that don’t yet exist. Click on a link that points to a nonexistent page, and the wiki will ask you for initial content to put in the page. If you submit some initial content, the wiki will create the page. All links to that page (not just the one you clicked) will now point to the newly-created page. Ø Wikis Simplify Site Organization: As wikis work like hypertext databases, you can organize your page however you want. Many content management systems require you to plan classifications for your content before you actually create it. This can be helpful, but only if what you want to convey fits a rigid mould. With a wiki, you can organize your page into categories if you want, but you can also try other things. Instead of designing the site structure, many wiki site creators just let the structure grow with the content and the links inside their content. But you don’t have to have it either way. I do all three on my own site. Visitors can navigate the site by following a storyline, drilling down through a hierarchy, or they can just browse with the natural flow of the internal links. Without the wiki, such complexity would be a nightmare. Now that I use a wiki, I also find my site structure easier to manage than when I used a template system and a set of categories. Ø Wikis Keep Track of All Your Stuff: Because a wiki stores everything in an internal hypertext database, it knows about all your links and all your pages. So it’s easy for the wiki to show back links, a list of all the pages that linking to the current page. Since the wiki stores your document history, it can also list recent changes. Ø Many Wikis are Collaborative Communities: The original wiki allows anyone to click the Edit button and change the Website. While this may seem odd, many wikis are able to do this successfully without major issues in terms of vandalism. Remember, the wiki stores the history of each page. For each vandal, there are probably ten people who actually need the information that was there before, and who will take the time to click the button and reset the page to its former contents. Many of the wikis handle this challenge differently. Some are completely open, some restrict access, and one even has a democratic error/vandalism reporting system. How you deal with this challenge depends on what you plan to use the Wiki for, as we’ll see.
Ø Let’s take a look at my wiki which was created on pbworks. Please feel free to follow along with me either on the Smartboard or on the computer.
Walk through the beginning stages of starting a wiki with the web address above.
Explain in detail: Front Page Create a Page Upload Files Users Tab: Invite People as either reader or writer Edit/Save Tab Setting Tab Pages and Files Tab Side Bar Comments at bottom of each page Multiple examples of educational wikis: (Peruse on your own time) http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis Close with any questions attendees may have and then ask them to take a short survey regarding the professional development session. Include candy bars for those who complete the survey before leaving.
Intended Outcomes: Attendees will be able to create a wiki for personal, professional and/or classroom use. They will be able to create their own wiki account and use it with the help of my video tutorial. They will be able to create pages, upload files, add readers and writers, and edit when necessary. They will peruse the given education wikis for guidance and suggestions. I hope the attendees feel comfortable enough to ask me for guidance if necessary. I hope the session meets the needs of each person in attendance.
- ØA mass email will be sent to all primary school teachers and administrators as an invitation to the professional development session.
- ØInclude B.E.A.M.S as an incentive to teachers.
- ØTopic: Creation of a wiki by using pbworks or similar wiki sites
Introduction of topic through: Wikis in Plain English- YouTubehttp://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english
- ØIntroduce goals of presentation:
What is a wiki and how does it work?Technically, a wiki is a combination of a CGI script and a collection
of plain text files that allows users to create Web pages “on the
fly.” All it takes is a connection to the Internet and a Web browser.
When you click a wiki page’s “Edit” link, the script sends the raw
text file to your browser in an editable form, allowing you to modify
the content of the page. Pressing the “Save” button sends the
modified text back to the wiki server, which replaces the existing
text file with your changed version for all to see. When you
request a wiki page, the script gathers the corresponding text file,
changes its marked-up text into HTML, turns user-selected words
into hyperlinks, inserts this information into a page template, and
sends the result to your browser.
Ø Wikis Simplify Editing Your Website: Each page on a wiki has an Edit link. If you want to change something on the page, click the link, and the wiki will display a simple editing screen. When you finish making changes, submit them by clicking a button, and, Voila! Your changes show up on the Website.
Ø Wikis Use Simple Markup: Even for geeky types like me, thinking about HTML and formatting gets in the way of good, clear writing. Wikis solve this problem by writing the HTML for you — you only need to learn a few simple markup rules. These rules are designed to make wiki markup easy to write and read by real people.
Ø Wikis Record Document Histories: If you make a mistake, don’t worry. A good wiki will save plenty of old copies of your pages and will let you revert to an older version of a page. In fact, many Wikis will display a comparison, called a diffˆ, which shows you the exact changes you have made to your page over time.
Ø Creating Links Is Simple With Wikis: Wikis store all your Website’s content in an internal hypertext database. The wiki knows about every page you have and about every link you make. If you use a wiki, you don’t have to worry about the location of files or the format of your tags. Simply name the page, and the wiki will automatically create a link for you.
Ø Creating New Pages Is Simple With Wikis: Wikis let you link to pages that don’t yet exist. Click on a link that points to a nonexistent page, and the wiki will ask you for initial content to put in the page. If you submit some initial content, the wiki will create the page. All links to that page (not just the one you clicked) will now point to the newly-created page.
Ø Wikis Simplify Site Organization: As wikis work like hypertext databases, you can organize your page however you want. Many content management systems require you to plan classifications for your content before you actually create it. This can be helpful, but only if what you want to convey fits a rigid mould. With a wiki, you can organize your page into categories if you want, but you can also try other things. Instead of designing the site structure, many wiki site creators just let the structure grow with the content and the links inside their content. But you don’t have to have it either way. I do all three on my own site. Visitors can navigate the site by following a storyline, drilling down through a hierarchy, or they can just browse with the natural flow of the internal links. Without the wiki, such complexity would be a nightmare. Now that I use a wiki, I also find my site structure easier to manage than when I used a template system and a set of categories.
Ø Wikis Keep Track of All Your Stuff: Because a wiki stores everything in an internal hypertext database, it knows about all your links and all your pages. So it’s easy for the wiki to show back links, a list of all the pages that linking to the current page. Since the wiki stores your document history, it can also list recent changes.
Ø Many Wikis are Collaborative Communities: The original wiki allows anyone to click the Edit button and change the Website. While this may seem odd, many wikis are able to do this successfully without major issues in terms of vandalism. Remember, the wiki stores the history of each page. For each vandal, there are probably ten people who actually need the information that was there before, and who will take the time to click the button and reset the page to its former contents. Many of the wikis handle this challenge differently. Some are completely open, some restrict access, and one even has a democratic error/vandalism reporting system. How you deal with this challenge depends on what you plan to use the Wiki for, as we’ll see.
- Ø Let’s take a look at my wiki which was created on pbworks. Please feel free to follow along with me either on the Smartboard or on the computer.
http://mrsoddopbworks.comWalk through the beginning stages of starting a wiki with the web address above.
Explain in detail:
Front Page
Create a Page
Upload Files
Users Tab: Invite People as either reader or writer
Edit/Save Tab
Setting Tab
Pages and Files Tab
Side Bar
Comments at bottom of each page
Multiple examples of educational wikis: (Peruse on your own time)
http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis
Close with any questions attendees may have and then ask them to take a short survey regarding the professional development session. Include candy bars for those who complete the survey before leaving.
I have also created a video tutorial to help you after today’s session. Please log onto:
http://screencast.com/t/lO9CxuGZ5
Candy Bar Survey at : http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9BDT3YB
Intended Outcomes:
Attendees will be able to create a wiki for personal, professional and/or classroom use. They will be able to create their own wiki account and use it with the help of my video tutorial. They will be able to create pages, upload files, add readers and writers, and edit when necessary. They will peruse the given education wikis for guidance and suggestions. I hope the attendees feel comfortable enough to ask me for guidance if necessary. I hope the session meets the needs of each person in attendance.